For a while now, I really wanted to get this film on DVD. I tried different anime stores, Borders book stores, various other video stores, even Ebay (none of the listings have had the right region code), but to no avail. It's strange, I've heard good things about this movie and it even has a star-studded cast, but as of this moment it still has not been released in the US. Wonder why.
shareI've been upset about that as well. There is a way to get it in the US, but the only format is VCD. It is subtitled in English and Chinese by some company based in San Francisco and while the Chinese subtitles are distracting, the English translation is really excellent. I've actually got the original DVD version in region 2 because I now live in Tokyo and I picked it up at HMV a few days ago. From what I understand, it wasn't a huge film here in Japan either, but if you mention the name, most people have a vague idea of what you're talking about. But in any case, you can buy the VCD from YesAsia.com for a meagre $4.99. Here's the link:
http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/pid-1000034798/code-c/section-videos/
PS Sometimes the subtitles are a bit hard to read because they're white and much of the bank interior is white as well. They probably should have chosen another colour, perhaps yellow or light blue. The Japanese region 2 DVD has no English subtitles but has loads of extra features like a 'making of' featurette and several set tours. From what I hear, the Hong Kong region 3 DVD has very few features, but it might have English subtitles. I'm not sure. If it does, I'd probably invest in a region-free DVD player and go for that because the DVD quality would be substantially better than VCD. Cheers!
"What ain't no country I ever heard of! They speak English in What?"
Americans can't be bothered reading subtitles. At least, most of us cannot be bothered. I'd rather read subtitles and watch a surprising gem of a movie like this one than sit through any number of releases coming out of Hollywood these days.
The Hong Kong DVD has hardy anything worthy of being called an 'extra', but the price is right, the subtitles are easy to read, & I'm very happy to have it.
I agree. I've been watching mostly Asian films because most of the ones coming out here lately suck.
And I HAVE to see this. Takeshi Kaneshiro and Ken Watanabe are awesome actors.
...Actually, it's up on YouTube!
share...Actually, it's up on YouTube!
shareThe dvd is Region 3 HK disc by Universe Laser, it is subtitled.
http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.1013/qx/details.htm
they list it as a 1-2 week backorder item for like $9
Surely other online dvd importer dealers have it
Region coding is easy to get around; tons of cheap ($50 or less) players like Philips DVP642 exist which can be modified by looking up a numerical code online and punching the buttons on your remote control to change it to all region player. Some like the aforementioned also do anamorphic PAL to NTSC conversion (my CyberHome player did nonanamorphic and sqeezed the picture on some letterboxed PAL films, plus CH's players don't hold up well). Check online and read reviews for various brands/models to find one best for you and enjoy obscure movies not released over here.
I really hoped that the HD disc formats would've done away with this pointless region coding crap. BD went down to 3 regions, whoopdee freakin doo! We didn't have to put up with this crap back in the laserdisc days.
Stop the Full-SCREAM madness!
Buy the Widescreen version!
See movies in original aspect ratio.